Leafy green

Leafy green

Leafy greens or leafy vegetables are also called potherbs or – quite simply – greens. They are the leaves of a plant which are eaten as vegetables. Almost 1000 known species of plants are present that have edible leaves. Some of the leafy plants are spinach, lettuce, clover, alfalfa, and grasses like barley and wheat. Leafy greens are low in fat and calories, and high in protein, iron, calcium, and phytochemicals like folic acid, carotenoids, vitamin C, and lutein. Some of the common leafy greens are:

Artichoke: Its origin is from southern Europe, near the Mediterranean region. They come in different varieties: Green colour (medium and big size), purple colour (medium and big size) and spined. They are used in cooking, making herbal tea, and Cynar, an Italian liquer. The medical value of the plant is that its leaves are used to increase the production of bile.

Brussels sprout: Are of the Brassicaceae family and look like miniature cabbages and is a traditional vegetable for winter in Central Europe and the UK.

Cabbage: It is a leafy plant of the Brassicaceae family. This dicotyledonous flowering plant is usually green in colour and is derived from a plant called the mustard plant, which grows in the Mediterranean region primarily along the sea shore and hence the name wild cabbage/sea cabbage.

Depending on the shape of the cabbage and time of maturity, there are many varieties: colewort, drumhead cabbage, oxheart cabbage, red cabbage, and savoy cabbage.

Some of the diseases that affect the family of cabbage are black stem or blackleg, black ring, wire stem, clubroot, and cabbage wilt; all are caused due to certain bacteria and fungi.

Some of the pests that infest the cabbage are larva of cabbage white, cabbage moth, cabbage webworm, cabbage aphid, cabbage fly, cabbage looper, and cutworm.